My Sanctuary
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: Following her Mother's death, seventeen-year old Tara Maclay flees her abusive Father, and finds herself seeking refuge in the home of fellow shy social outcast Willow Rosenberg.
1. Running Away

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy

AN: This is a story I've had planned for ages and just haven't got around to writing yet. And I warn you, it's a little darker than my other stuff Enjoy!

* * *

Seventeen year-old Tara Maclay watched silently as her Mother's coffin was lowered into the ground. She maintained her composure as dirt was shoveled over it, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. If she cried now, her Father would punish her later for what he would perceive as her making a scene. She glanced over at him as he looked on, face emotionless, with Tara's older brother Donny and younger cousin Beth standing on either side of him. Tara knew that her Mother's death was more an annoying inconvenience to her Father, in contrast to the deep personal loss that it was for her. Who would cook? Who would do the housekeeping? Of course, Tara knew exactly who would have to do these things.

_"Me, Myself, and I"_ she thought to herself, sighing as she remembered her Father's words when they had first discovered that her Mother wasn't going to pull through. _"You'll be the woman of the house now girl, it's your duty to take care of the housework and put dinner on the table for your brother and I." _Lucky for him then that he'd had the daughter he never wanted, because God forbid if he should have to do the housework himself.

* * *

When the Maclays arrived home after the funeral, Tara cooked a meal for her Father and brother, just as she was expected to do. Her Father had been extra irritable recently, and defying him, which she didn't plan to do, would not be a wise course of action. She made nothinng for herself, as the thought of eating right now repulsed her. After the others had finished, she washed their dishes, and then, with her Father's permission, headed off to bed. After Tara had changed and lay down on her bed, she flinched at the feel of something hard beneath her pillow, and pulled the offending object out. It was a book of magic spells. Tara's Mother had been a member of the wiccan faith, and when Tara turned thirteen she had begun teaching her the craft. Her Father didn't like this, so the lessons had had to be kept secret. Tara had taken to the magic well though, and before her death her Mother had made a point of telling her how proud she was of the skilled witch she was becoming. Tara hugged the book to her chest, finally allowing her tears to fall.

* * *

The following day, Tara floated through school on auto-pilot, paying attention to no-one, and no-one paying attention to her. That was until around lunchtime, when a sudden voice cut into her thoughts.

"Tara?" The sound made her jump, but Tara quickly relaxed when she saw the identity of the speaker.

"H-hi, Willow." Willow Rosenberg was a girl from the year below who had been skipped into Tara's IT class because of her high aptitude with computers. Willow was advanced in other areas too, and was therefore deemed a nerd and a teacher's pet, making her unpopular among most of her peers. Tara had never really considered her as either of these things, and thought she was sweet, and kind, and a lot of other things that were lacking in most girls her age. She was also quite pretty.. not that Tara really noticed that sort of thing. What she did notice at that moment was the younger girl's emerald green eyes filled with concern. It took her another moment to realise that this concern was for her. Willow was about the only person in school who acknowledged her existence, even the teachers didn't pay much attention to 'that quiet girl with the stutter.'

"I heard about your Mom" said Willow sympathetically. "I'm so sorry."

"I-it's okay" Tara stuttered. ""We kn-knew it was c-coming, and she was in the h-hospital for a l-long time before it h-happened, so I've already g-gotten used to n-not h-having her around." This wasn't completeley true. While Tara had become accustomed to not having her Mother around at home, the fact that she was now really gone was still tough for her to deal with.

"Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, okay?" said Willow, still a little worried.

"Okay" Tara nodded, giving an increasingly rare display of her lopsided smile.

"And hey, if you need to just take your mind off things, maybe you can come over to my house one day and we'll bake brownies and watch movies and.."

"I d-don't think so" Tara stuttered.

"Oh.." said Willow, face falling.

"It's n-not that I d-dont w-want to" Tara added quickly. And she meant it, but her Father would never allow it. "I just r-really need to b-be with my D-dad and my b-brother right now, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand" Willow smiled, laying a hand on Tara's shoulder. "But if you ever change your mind, the offer's always open."

"Okay. Th-thanks, Willow."

"No problem" she replied, rushing off down the hall towards a blonde haired girl gesturing for her to hurry up and a dark haired boy who looked in no hurry at all. These were Willow's two best friends, Buffy Summers and Xander Harris. Tara had never spoken to either of them much, but they seemed nice enough. "See you in class tomorrow?"

"Yeah" Tara nodded, smiling again. "S-see you, Willow." She turned and headed off herself, dropping her books as she bumped right into the school's resident bad girl, Faith Lehane. Although, Tara thought the girl had a worse reputation than her behaviour truly warranted. Most of the teachers thought badly of her, and she did have a habit of picking fights, but what most failed to notice was that these fights were, more often than not, with bullies picking on people younger or smaller than them. It also had to be noted that, for reasons nobody really understood, her behaviour had improved drastically over recent months, and she seemed to be making a real effort to keep herself in check. The most she seemed to get into now was her frequent verbal sparring matches with Buffy. Buffy and Faith's official position was that they couldn't stand each other, but Tara got the filling that this wasn't the truth by a longshot.. not that she really noticed that type of thing either. The kids in the surrounding area tensed, half expecting Faith to haul off and punch Tara in the face. Instead, the brunette bent down, gathered the dropped books and handed them back to Tara. Then, as if suddenly rememberinng that she had a reputation to keep, said:

"Watch where you're goin' next time, okay Blondie?"

"O-okay" Tara stuttered, rushing off to class.

* * *

The second Tara arrived home that afternoon, she knew she was in trouble. Her Father was sitting in his favourite armchair, holding her Mother's magic book.

"What's this?" he asked her coldly, holding it up.

"M-mom's book" Tara stuttered. "I w-wanted to k-keep it to r-remember her.."

"The hell you do!" Her Father shouted angrily. "It's a book of witchcraft! You've been practicing these evil, unattural acts in my house, haven't you girl? Haven't you!"

"It's n-not evil.."

"This is filth!" He waved the book in Tara's face. "This is trash!" He opened the book and attempted to tear out its pages.

"Stop!" Tara cried. She made a grab for the book, and her Father lashed out.

* * *

Tara examined the angry bruise forming across one side of her face. She needed to learn some respect, her Father said. She needed to know her place, her Father said. She would no longer be going to school, her Father said. She would not leave the house unless he said so, her Father said. But he was wrong. Tara rushed into her room and grabbed a bag, packing it with a pillow, blanket, change of clothes, and other essentials. She crept down stairs, careful not to wake her father or Donny as she passed their rooms, and retrieved her Mother's book, complete with a few torn out pages, tucking them inside the cover before running back upstairs and placing it in the bag. Her Mother had told Tara that she wanted a better life for her than what she had had. She had told her that if her Father ever laid a hand on her, she was to run. He had, so Tara was running.


	2. Out Of The Blue

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy

* * *

Tara had no idea where she was going to go, or what she was going to do when she got there. She had no family to turn to, any of them would just return her to her Father. She wandered aimlessly through the night. She knew that her best bet really was to get out of town, but she was not yet ready to leave the familiarity of it. She had grown up here, her Mother was buried here, the closest thing she had to a friend was here. She continued to wander for a while, until she found herself in the park. She found a large tree that would shield her from the worst of the weather. In fact, this tree was very familiar to her, as she would occasionally come by it on her way home from school, and would sit beneath it to just relax for a while, as she could never do at home. Tara pulled out her blanket and pillow and settled down underneath the tree, eventually drifting off to sleep, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Tara slept for a long time. In fact, she slept through most of the next day. Her tree was rather out of the way, so she was not seen or disturbed. But unfortunately, or maybe very fortunately, Tara was not the only person who thought that tree was a nice one to rest under.

"Tara?" Willow's confused, worried voice broke through her sleepy haze. "Is that you? What are you.." Tara stirred, rolling over and sitting up to face her, and Willow gasped. Tara was confused, until she remembered the events of the night before, touching her bruised face and wincing at the tenderness. It probably looked worse now than it had last night, bruises were always worse the day after. "Oh my God!" Willow cried, letting her school bag slip from her shoulders and dropping to her knees in front of her. "Tara, what happened? Who did this to you?" She reached out to inspect the bruise herself, but Tara flinched, backing away.

"It's n-nothing, it was j-just a little accident.."

"Then why are you asleep in the park under a tree with a bag full of stuff?" asked Willow. She was beginning to enter the babble-like speech pattern she adopted when stressed, and tried to calm herself down. "Come on, Tara, you can trust me. I won't even tell anyone if you don't want me to." Tara frowned, thinking for a moment. She decided that she did trust Willow. After all, the younger girl had never given her any reason not to trust her. So, she relented, albeit slightly reluctantly."

"M-my... My F-father did it."

"What?" cried Willow. "Why?"

"D-does it really m-matter why?" Tara didn't really want to explain about her Mother's magic book, for fear that Willow wouldn't believe it or think she was stupid.

"No" Willow replied. "It's wrong, whatever the reason was."

"I th-think my Mother h-had a feeling s-something like this might h-happen" Tara continued. "Because she t-told me to g-get out if m-my Father ever h-hit me. I did, b-but now I don't r-really have anywhere to g-go.."

"You can stay with me" said Willow quickly.

"R-really?" said Tara, surprised. She hadn't been expecting that. "You know, I d-didnt tell you all that j-just so you would.."

"You can stay with me" Willow repeated.

"But wh-what about your parents?"

"They've gone away for a few weeks" Willow explained, standing up. "And if you still need to stay when they get back, well.. we can pretend you're an exchange student. How good are you at accents?"

"Are you r-really sure about this Willow?" Tara asked. "You d-don't have to.."

"Tara, I'm sure" said Willow. "Anyway, I can't just leave my friend out in the streets."

"I'm y-your friend?"

"Of course you're my friend! Now come on, we're going home." Willow's voice was determined, a tone Tara had never heard her use before, so she gathered her things and followed.

"Um, Willow?" she asked as they walked.

"Yeah?"

"W-why were you u-up here? I mean, I've b-been here before and it's n-not usually a place p-people pass through."

"I come here when my parents are away" Willow explained. "It kinda beats going right home to an empty house. I know I'm still mostly alone here, but I can hear other people, and the birds singing.. It's relaxing." A slight blush spread over the redhead's cheeks. "Sounds stupid, huh?"

"No"said Tara, shaking her head. "N-not at all."

* * *

On the way back to Willow's house, they made a quick stop at the grocery store as Willow said she needed to pick up a few things. Tara decided to wait out the back to keep Willow from getting into trouble if somebody came looking for her. Of course, finding Faith there having a cigarette posed a small problem to her plan. She tried to quickly head back the other way, but Faith had already spotted her. Tara tried to cover her bruise with her hair, but Faith had already spotted this too. But despite the fact that she had obviously seen the bruise, the other girl didn't comment on it.

"Hey Blondie" She greeted, an uncharacteristic gentleness in her voice. She glanced at the bag slung over Tara's shoulder. "Goin' somewhere?"

"J-just sleeping over at a f-friend's house" Tara stuttered. "Actually, I sh-should go, they're w-waiting for me."

"Okay, see ya round then." Tara breathed a quick sigh of relief, turning to walk away when Faith added, "And Blondie?"

"Y-yeah?" Tara asked nervously, looking back over her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone I saw ya."

* * *

Tara met up with Willow just as she came out of the store.

"W-what did you n-need to buy?" she asked.

"Ingredients" Willow held up the bag, smiling. "We're baking those brownies."


	3. Fragile

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy

* * *

"Here we are" Willow smiled, opening the front door of her house and waving Tara inside. "Make yourself at home! There's the kitchen, feel free to help yourself. Um.." she lead her guest upstairs, opening a door. "You can put your stuff in my room.." she paused as Tara did so, "And the bathroom is two doors down on your right. Oh, and while I think of it.." Willow rushed into the bathroom, emerging a few seconds later with a jar containing some sort of ointment, and handed it to Tara. "My Mom says this is good for bruises. You should probably check the instructions first to see if it's okay to put on your face though, 'cause I'm not sure."

"Th-thanks, Willow" said Tara. "You know you r-really d-didn't have to d-do all this for m-me.."

"I wanted to" said Willow. "So, now that you know where everything is, let's go bake some brownies!"

* * *

So, they baked brownies. Willow also happened to have a roll of ready-made cookie dough in the fridge, so they baked some cookies too. Then, they watched some of Willow's favourite movies while they ate them. Willow laughed at almost every joke despite declaring that she had seen all of the movies nearly a hundred times each. Tara hadn't seen any of them, but Willow's laugh was contagious. Tara was surprised to find herself having fun. So much fun, in fact, that she almost forgot the reason she was here, that her father had hit her across the face so hard that half of it was bruised. Tara had also accepted Willow's assertion that she was her friend. And because they were friends, Tara was struggling to suppress a few more-than-friendly thoughts that were beginning to float around in her mind, like how amazing her smile was, and her laugh, and how her emerald eyes twinkled when she laughed.. But they were friends. That was all. Just friends.

As for Willow, she was just happy that Tara was happy. She deserved it after all she had been through recently. Now that she had welcomed Tara into her home, Willow had begun to feel a duty towards her. A duty to keep her safe, and protect her from the person who had hurt her. Willow had never thought of herself as a protector before, she still didn't see herself as much of one, but she was all Tara had right now, and a protector was what Tara needed her to be. So, Willow would protect her as well as she knew how. And she wouldn't let herself be distracted from this duty by thinking about how amazingly beautiful Tara was even with the bruise. Nope. Not at all.

* * *

"Do your p-parents leave you alone like th-this often?" Tara asked as she slid into the sleeping bag that Willow had found for her, then pulled her own blanket over the top of it.

"Well, until I was twelve I had babysitters" Willow replied as she climbed into her own bed. "But yeah, they go away a few times a year. Sometimes if I'm lonely I'll go stay with Buffy or Xander for a while, but I don't really like being a burden on them. But hey, I don't have to worry about being lonely now, do I?" She smiled.

"No" Tara replied, glancing over at her bag, with her Mother's book still hidden inside it. Willow was being so open with her. Tara owed it to her to be open too. She reached over and pulled the book out. If she could trust Willow with everything else, she should be able to trust her with this.

"What's that?" asked Willow curiously.

"You h-have to p-promise you'll believe me" said Tara. "And that you w-won't l-laugh."

"Okay.." said Willow, confused. "I promise."

"It's a b-book of magic spells" said Tara. "It b-belonged to m-my Mom."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah. She was a w-witch" Tara continued. "She st-started to t-teach me b-before she got s-sick. My F-Father didn't like it, so I k-kept the book h-hidden in my room, but he f-found it, and.." tears filled Tara's eyes.

"A book?" Willow cried in realisation as the information began to sink in. "He hit you because of a book?" Tara gave a whimper in reply, trying to hold back her tears, and Willow swallowed her anger towards her friend's Father, leaping out of bed to comfort her. Willow hugged Tara tightly, letting the older girl sob against her shoulder. "It's okay to cry, Tara. Just let it all out if you need to. It's okay."


	4. Mistaken Identity

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy

AN: Oh, just a little sidenote, the title of this story, and all the chapter titles so far, have been taken from the names of songs by Australian artist Delta Goodrem. If you have it heard of her, check her out.

* * *

Willow held Tara until her sobs subsided. Then, Tara explained a little more about what had happened with the book, and showed Willow the torn pages.

"Hmm.." Willow thought as she inspected them.

"What?" said Tara, confused, as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

"These are pretty clean tears, right along the edge" said Willow. "You know Giles, the librarian at school?"

"The one who m-married Miss Calendar?" Tara asked. Willow nodded.

"Yeah, he knows a bit about old-fashioned bookbinding. I think he could probably fix this."

"R-really? Th-that w-would be great!" said Tara happily. "So, the w-witch thing.. y-you believe it?"

"I believe _you_" said Willow. "If you say your Mom was a witch and she was teaching you magic, then I believe you. And not all miracles that happen could possibly be just a coincidence. It's nice to believe there's a little magic in the world. Besides that" she chuckled. "I'm Jewish. Given past historical events, we're not all that big on knocking other people's beliefs." The two girls talked for a little while longer, then Willow tucked the pages inside the spellbook and climbed back into bed.

"Willow?"

"Yeah, Tara?"

"Th-thanks again for d-doing all this f-for me" said Tara. "You r-really didn't.."

"Stop saying that" Willow cut her off. "I already told you, I want to help. That's what friends are for." She hung one hand over the side of the bed, offering it to Tara. "We're in this together now, no arguments, okay?"

"Ok-kay." Tara linked her fingers with Willow's, then both girls jerked their hands away, blushing, as a spark of electricity passed between them. "G-Goodnight, Willow."

"Goodnight, Tara."

* * *

When Willow left for school the next morning, Tara's book tucked safely into her bag, she once again reassured the other girl that she was completely welcome in her home, and reminded her to help herself to anything while she was gone.

Willow's first couple of classes that day were uneventful, but in her IT class, things got rather awkward when Miss Calendar asked her if she had seen Tara at all that day. Willow had never been a good liar. Besides that, Willow didn't like lying to Miss Calendar, as she knew that she was one of the few teachers who really had time for Tara. But Willow also knew that the fewer people who knew where Tara was, the safer she would be, so she managed to keep her mouth shut. Still, the lying was killing her. As soon as the bell rang for lunch, she rushed out of the classroom, running right past Buffy and Xander as they exited their own class a few doors down.

"Hey Will, where are you going?" Buffy called after her.

"The library!" Willow called back.

"But it's lunchtime!" Xander cried.

"There's something I've got to do!" Willow yelled as she rounded the corner. "I'll catch up in a few minutes!"

"You know" said Xander, turning to Buffy with a deadly serious expression, "Sometimes I really wonder how Willow and I are friends."

* * *

"Hi, Giles!" Willow greeted cheerily as she entered the library.

"Oh, hello Willow" Giles smiled, looking up from the books he had been sorting. He was rather fond of Willow, most likely due to the fact that she was just about the only student who ever visited the library of her own accord. That, and she had played matchmaker for he and his new wife the previous year, for which he owed her a great deal of gratitude. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well" said Willow, gently pulling Tara's book out of her bag, "I was kinda hoping that you might be able to fix this book for me. It has a few pages loose." Giles took the book, raising an eyebrow as he read the title.

"_'A Guide To Witchcraft'_?"

"My parents brought it back from one of their trips" Willow explained quickly. Lying again, but it had to be done. "They like things that are a little unusual."

"I see" said Giles, flipping through the book until he found the loose pages in question, looking them over. "Yes, I think I should be able to fix this quite easily. I'll just drop by your locker after school today to return it, shall I?"

"Oh, that'd be great!" smiled Willow, before rushing off to join Xander and Buffy for lunch. "Thanks, Giles. See you later!"

* * *

Later that day, after the final school bell had rung, Willow waited anxiously beside her locker. Although she did trust Giles, she couldn't help feeling worried, and couldn't bare the thought of having to explain to Tara if something happened to her Mother's book.

"Hey, Red!" Faith called, running up behind her. Faith had a habit of calling people by nicknames that they tended to find annoying, and Red was Willow's.

"What?" Willow snapped, spinning around to face her. Normally, she wouldn't have had the courage to stand up to the other girl, but her anxiousness made her extra irritable.

"Damn, Red, what's eatin' you?" Faith raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, and Willow's eyes widened when she realised that one of them clutched Tara's book.

"What are you doing with that?" Willow cried, trying to snatch it back.

"Geez, take the damn book!" said Faith, thrusting it into Willow's hands. "The G-man only asked me to bring it back to ya 'cause he realised he didn't know wher your locker was!"

"Oh" said Willow sheepishly. She hadn't been expecting that. "I'm sor.."

"Forget it, Red" said Faith, turning and walking away. "I don't want your stupid phony apology."


	5. Believe Again

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy

* * *

Willow stared after Faith as she stormed off, confused. She really was sorry. But Faith was.. well, Faith. How was she supposed to have known that she had been innocently returning the book. After all, the girl wasn't exactly known for her innocence. In fact, the opposite was true. Still..

"Why was Faith talking to you?" asked Buffy as she approached, frowning, interrupting Willow's thoughts.

"No reason" said Willow, quickly shoving Tara's book into her bag.

* * *

"Tara, I'm back!" Willow called when she arrived home.

"In h-here!" came Tara's voice. Willow followed the sound into the kitchen, frowning when she saw Tara bent over the sink, scrubbing away at some dirty dishes.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frown deepening.

"W-well I th-thought that since you're l-letting me st-stay here I c-could help.." Tara began, stuttering.

"Oh no you don't" Willow interrupted, snatching a soapy plate away from her. "I can do all that myself, thank you very much. You're a guest."

"B-but.." said Tara, still clutching the scrub brush.

"No buts" said Willow firmly. "Now put the brush down and repeat after me: 'I will not wash Willow's dishes, or do any housework whatsoever while I am staying with her'."

"B-but.."

"I said no buts" Willow smirked. "Just repeat it, Tara."

"I will not w-wash Willow's dishes, or d-do any h-housework whatsoever while I am st-staying with her."

"Good."

"But, um.. does m-making your b-bed for you c-count as housework? 'Cause I k-kind of d-did that already.."

"Tara!" Willow laughed, shaking her head, "I appreciate that you want to help, but I don't need you to do anything for me."

"I kn-know" Tara sighed. "I g-guess I'm j-just used to doing all th-this b-by myself at h-home, that's all."

"Exactly my point" said Willow, taking Tara's arm and steering her into the lounge room, gently pushing her onto the couch. "Sit."

"Ok-okay" Tara finally relented. "H-How was school?"

"Oh, same old, same old" Willow replied, slipping her bag off and sitting down beside her. "Miss Calendar asked about you."

"Sh-she did?"

"Yeah, but I didn't say anything. Hey, guess that means I can lie when I really need to" Willow smiled. Tara looked confused, so she explained. "Normally I can't. Lie, I mean. At least not well. I usually panic, and sweat, and shake, and babble.. kinda like I'm doing now."

"The babbling's cute" said Tara, blushing furiously as soon as the words had slipped out. "And it's ok-okay to be honest. It's good. M-Most of the t-time, b-being honest is b-best."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that" Willow smiled again, before reaching into her bag. "Almost forgot, I have your book." She pulled it out and handed it to Tara, who, knowing the book from back to front, quickly flipped to where the pages had been torn.

"Wow! You'd h-hardly kn-know that anything h-happened!"

"I know" said Willow proudly. "Good as new, even after Faith had it."

"F-Faith had it?" asked Tara, curious.

"Yeah" Willow nodded. "She said she was only returning it though. Weird, huh? That's not like her."

"I d-don't know" said Tara. "I don't th-think she's r-really as b-bad as everybody m-makes out." She hesitated before continuing. "Y-Yesterday, when I was w-waiting for you to c-come out of the gr-grocery store, she saw me."

"What?" Willow yelped. "You didn't tell her were you were going, did you?"

"N-No.. Well, I d-did tell her I was g-going to stay at a f-friend's house, but as f-far as m-most people are concerned, I don't h-have any friends" said Tara. "Besides, she said she w-wouldn't t-tell anyone she s-saw me."

"So?" cried Willow, panicking. "If we've learnt anything about Faith today, it's that she's completely unpredictable!"

"B-but.. you don't really kn-know her, Willow" said Tara. "N-Neither of us d-do. For all we kn-know, she m-might just act the w-way she d-does because that's what e-everyone expects. But sometimes you h-have to b-believe in a p-person to find out who they r-really are."

"So basically" said Willow, considering, "You're telling me I should have faith in Faith?"

"Yeah" Tara chuckled. "S-Something like that."


	6. Miscommunication

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

The next few days passed mostly without incident, although Willow had been forced to lie a few more times when Miss Calendar had asked again if she knew of Tara's whereabouts. But, when Tara had been staying at Willow's house for almost a week, something mildly worrying did happen. When Willow was walking home from school on that particular day, along with Buffy and Xander who each lived just a few blocks away from her, and passed by an electronics store with television screens flashing in the window, she froze. On the screens was a press conference, with a man, who Willow assumed was Tara's Father, holding up a picture of her for the gathering of news reporters to observe, and pleading for his daughter to come home. Saying that he loved her, that he missed her. Willow clenched her fists and glared angrily at the T.V sets, but quickly tried to relax as she heard her friends walk up behind her, not wanting them to get suspicious.

"Hey Will, isn't that girl in your IT class?" asked Buffy, frowning.

"Yeah" said Willow, trying to hide her nervousness about the situation. "Tara."

"Gee, she always seemed really quiet to me" said Xander, as on screen Tara's Father continued to pour out his insincere sadness at his daughter's disappearance, declaring that her Mother wouldn't want them to be apart. "Not really the type to run away. What did you think of her Will?"

"What?" said Willow, tearing her gaze away from the televisions while fighting a very strong urge to smash them all. "Oh, I didn't really know her that well.."

"I don't know" said Buffy. "She didn't seem to have that many friends, from what I saw. Maybe she just ran away to draw attention to herself." At that comment, Willow almost cracked and blew her own and Tara's cover, until, thankfully, a snort of laughter emanated from behind them.

"If you seriously think that that's what's goin on here B, you're an even dumber blonde than I thought." The group turned to see Faith smirking at them. Willow, for one, was happy to see her, as her arrival had distracted her enough to calm her down and not bite Buffy's head off about Tara. Buffy, on the other hand, was not so happy.

"Oh, so what do you think, Faith? I'd just love to hear your opinion" said Buffy sarcastically, glaring at the other girl. "Actually no, I wouldn't."

"Well tough luck B, 'cause you're gettin' it" said Faith, pointing at the T.V screens. "That guy there is not the concerned, loving Daddy he's pretendin' to be."

"But he's crying!" said Buffy.

"Anyone can rustle up a few crocodile tears when they want to" said Faith, crossing her arms. "And tell me, if he cares so freakin' much about where his daughter is, why did he wait nearly a week to report her missin'?" At this, Buffy was momentarily stumped.

"Well, uh.. maybe he hoped she was going to come back on her own."

"We have a winner" Faith smirked again. "Exactly, he thought she was gonna come back on her own. Wanna know why he thought that, B? It's 'cause he thought he had her under control, under the thumb, had her scared, that he'd broken her spirit and she wouldn't be able to handle stayin' away from him. But his girl still had more backbone left than he thought, and good on her for that." Willow felt pride for her friend swell up inside her, but quickly shrank behind Xander when Faith noticed her smile. Faith's lips quirked slightly, but she said nothing.

"So you're saying that girl ran away because.."

"Damn, do I have to spell it out for ya?" Faith yelled, turning her attention back to Buffy. "He freaking bashed her!" Hearing what had happened to Tara described in so brutal a way made Willow feel sick to the stomach, and the knowledge that it was true made her even more so.

"Sure" Buffy smirked. "Nice story, Faith. That poor guy crying his eyes out over his lost daughter bashed her, real believable. What makes you such an expert on all that stuff anyway?" Willow had never felt more like slapping her friend, but as Faith had already fixed Buffy with a death glare, she realised she might not have to worry about it. She took a few steps closer to the blonde, fists clenched, one slightly raised, then abruptly turned away.

"Screw you, Buffy" said Faith coldly as she marched off down the street. "Screw you."


	7. In My Own Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

"Well, I'm not touching that one with a forty foot pole" said Xander, chuckling nervously as Buffy stared slack-jawed after Faith's retreating form, before taking off himself. "See ya later, guys!" Buffy turned to Willow for support, but given that the redhead knew Faith was right, and that she had been defending the girl who was currently hiding out in her house, Willow was not currently inclined to say a word against the brunette.

"Don't look at me, Buff" Willow pulled up the strap of her schoolbag where it had slipped down slightly, preparing to leave. "You're the one in the wrong here. I know that, for whatever reason, you and Faith have never gotten along, but.. you don't really know her, Buffy. You don't know Tara, either. I do, at least a little, and from what I do know she's sweet, and kind, and.." she sighed, stopping herself before she revealed too much. "Just think before you speak next time, okay?" Willow headed off down the street, leaving her friend with a lot to think about.

* * *

"Hey, Tara" Willow greeted when she arrived home soon after.

"H-Hey, Willow" Tara tore her worried gaze away from the T.V to return the greeting. By then, her Father's press conference was long over, but it was obvious to Willow why she looked so worried.

"I saw it too" she sighed, dropping her bag by the door and moving over to sit beside her friend. "But there's no need to panic. I'm the only person who knows where you are, and I'm not gonna tell anyone. You're completely safe here."

"I know" said Tara, "But I know my F-Father too, and I c-can't help worrying about what will h-happen if he f-finds me."

"We won't let him find you" said Willow. "We've made it through the first week, haven't we? That's got to be a good sign."

"Yeah, I guess it is" Tara smiled. "Did a-anything interesting h-happen today?"

"Well, Miss Calendar asked if I knew where you've been again" said Willow. "And there was, uh, an 'incident' on the way home.."

"Incident?" asked Tara, confused. "What k-kind of incident?"

"A 'Buffy and Faith' incident" Willow replied.

"Oh" said Tara, immediately understanding. It wasn't unusual to find the two girls arguing in the halls at school, and these arguments could be set off by the smallest things.

"Yeah, only this one was kinda about you."

"M-Me?" said Tara, a little worried. "W-Why would they b-be arguing about m-me?"

"Well, we saw your Father on T.V when we were walking past the electronics store, and Buffy said you probably ran away to draw attention to yourself and I nearly cracked it, but then Faith turned up and said if Buffy believed that then she was an even dumber blonde than she thought and.." Willow stopped herself, blushing. "You know, I'm just babbling again, you don't have to worry about any of that. What have you been doing while I was gone?"

"Just l-looking through my Mom's b-book" Tara sighed, indicating said book lying open in her lap. "I was g-going to try p-practicing some spells, but I c-can't seem to f-focus enough at the moment." Willow thought about this for a while, then came up with a suggestion.

"Why don't you try teaching me a little? Magic, I mean."

"What?" Tara looked at her friend, surprised.

"Well, magic is obviously important to you" said Willow, "And if teaching me helps you get your focus back on it again, why not?"

"I d-don't know Willow" Tara frowned. "M-Magic can be really d-dangerous if you d-don't know what you're doing."

"But you do" said Willow with a grin, playfully cuffing her friend on the arm. "Come on, Tara. Teach me." The familiar jolt of electricity shot through Tara's arm at Willow's touch, and her face reddened. Willow felt it too, but as she was not aware that Tara shared the somewhat more-than-friendly feelings that some times came up since she had been staying with her, she tried not to show it.

"I g-guess I could t-teach you how to f-float a p-pencil" Tara stuttered. Although she was feeling a little awkward right now, she couldn't help but think that Willow might be right. She knew magic, at least the basics, well enough to handle teaching them to someone. And if it helped her regain her magical focus as Willow had suggested, it could only be good. And she was sure her Mother would have wanted her to keep it up, which in Tara's eyes was the greatest incentive of all.

"Great!" Willow grinned. "So, what do we need?"

"Just a pencil" Tara smirked.

* * *

"You're really sure this is all we need?" said Willow a little while later, raising an eyebrow at the single, completely normal pencil that Tara had set down in front of her.

"Mmhmm" said Tara, nodding. "To l-learn magic, you h-have to r-really believe in it. Th-That's why floating a p-pencil is the first thing you learn. All you n-need to do it is the m-magic that already exists i-inside y-yourself, so you have no ch-choice but to believe in it."

"Believe in my magic, got it" said Willow, nodding.

"And f-focus on the pencil" Tara added.

"Believe in my magic, and focus on the pencil.. Uh, should I be taking any notes here?"

"No" Tara chuckled, before adding in a slightly teasing voice "Unless you th-think you c-can't remember it without them."

"No, I can remember fine" Willow frowned, turning to the place where the pencil lay and narrowing her eyes. "Just believe in my magic, and focus on the pencil. Believe in my magic, and focus on the pencil.."

"You can't r-really focus if you're t-talking, Will."

"Right" Willow nodded, before turning back to the pencil and now silently staring at it. Nearly an hour later it hadn't budged, but Willow, who could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to, continued to stare, rarely even letting herself blink. Tara laughed. "If you want me to focus, why are you laughing?"

"Sorry" said Tara. "It's just.. you're k-kinda reminding me of m-me when I was f-first learning."

"Uh.." said Willow, finally looking away from the pencil, "Is that a good thing?"

"I d-don't know" said Tara. "It t-took me a while before I could d-do it by myself. S-Sometimes you need a little b-boost the first time you t-try. M-My Mom d-did it for me."

"Did what?"

"Gave me a boost" Tara smiled, reaching out to Willow. "Here, g-give me your h-hand." Willow hesitated, remembering what usually happened when she and Tara shared any sort of physical contact, then put her hand in Tara's. Again, the spark was there, but both girls tried to ignore it.

"Now f-focus on the pencil" said Tara.

_"Yes, the pencil" _Willow thought to herself. _"Focus on the pencil, not Tara's hand, or how beautiful she is, and how even more beautiful she is now that the bruise has started to.. The pencil, Willow, the pencil!... Her eyes really are a beautiful shade of.. No, bad Willow! Focus on the pencil!" _Just next to her, Tara was experiencing a similar problem.

_"She looks so cute when she's concentrating.. Eyes on the pencil! Willow's eyes are like little emeralds.. No, look at the pencil! I wonder why people always pick on redheads.. Forget that, keep you're eyes on the pencil!" _Eventually, both girls did manage to get their focus back onto the pencil, and when they did, Willow felt power flowing through her, and watched in awe as the pencil slowly floated into the air.

"Wow" she gasped. But after a while she frowned, turning to Tara. "How do I know that you're not just.." At that moment, the pencil clattered back to the table.

"You stopped f-focusing" Tara teased.

* * *

Over the coming days, Willow made numerous attempts to float the pencil on her own. Occasionally, Tara would give her another 'boost', but she tried to avoid this as whenever she held her friends hand she had thoughts, thoughts that involved kissing her, and.. Well, other things she shouldn't be thinking, and she sure as hell couldn't act upon because that would be taking advantage. Tara could still help her in other ways though, such as reminding her to take her time when she became frustrated, that she would get it eventually. And she did. One day, Willow just sat down, focused on that 'stupid' pencil as she had recently taken to calling it, and, after a few moments, it floated into the air.

"Tara!" she cried happily, "Tara, look, I'm doing it!" Tara, who had once again been flipping through her Mother's book, looked up.

"See? I kn-knew you could d-do it" she smiled.

* * *

That night, the pair celebrated. They baked more brownies, and Willow broke into the store of snacks she kept for when her parents were away, as well as quickly ducking off up the street to rent some movies. Soon, though, the redhead started to yawn.

"You t-tired?"

"Yeah" said Willow sleepily.

"That's normal" Tara explained. "Magic t-takes alot out of you i-if you're not u-used to it." Willow continued to yawn, and before long drifted off to sleep, her head falling against Tara's shoulder. Tara tried to move and give her friend room to lie down properly, but the sleeping redhead whimpered in protest, snuggling back into Tara and sighing contentedly. So, Tara stayed put. Eventually, she managed to pull a spare blanket over them, laid her head against Willow's, and drifted off herself. She knew this was probably just a fluke, but it was nice to enjoy it while it lasted.


	8. A Little Too Late

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

When she woke the next morning, Willow instantly flew into a panic on noticing the time.

"Oh crap, this is bad, this is very bad!" the redhead leapt to her feet, running over and grabbing her schoolbag from where she had dropped it by the door the previous afternoon.

"I'm s-sorry" Tara stuttered, woken by Willow's panicked voice, and immediately getting the wrong idea. "You fell asleep, and you w-wouldn't let me m-move.."

"Oh no Tara, not you, that wasn't bad" said Willow quickly, checking that she had everything she needed, before slipping the bag over her shoulder. "That wasn't bad at all. But if I don't hurry I'm gonna be late for school."

"Oh" said Tara blushing a little. "S-See you l-later then."

"Yeah. I lo.. I'll see you" said Willow, catching herself just in time before rushing out the door, sparing no time for practical considerations such as maybe changing her clothes, her face turning as red as her hair. She had almost said 'I love you'. Now _that _would have been awkward.

Unknown to Willow, Tara had caught on to what she had almost maybe been about to say, but, like the events of the previous night, she thought it must have been an accident, a slip of the tongue. Afterall, she stopped herself before it had fully come out. It couldn't possibly have held any truth. Still, daring to dream for just a moment as she watched her friend head off down the front path, Tara whispered, so softly that she barely even heard it herself,

"I love you too."

* * *

Meanwhile, already at school, Buffy was facing a rather awkward situation of her own. A situation which, she grudgingly had to admit, she had brought completely upon herself. See, the blonde had been thinking about what Willow had said the day before, and had decided that maybe her friend was right, that she had been to quick to judge Faith when she didn't really know her very well at all. So, she had also decided, rather reluctantly mind you, that she needed to apologise. This was the reason why Buffy currently stood watching the brunette rummaging around in her locker, wondering how the hell she was going to approach her without getting herself smacked in the face. But would Faith smack her in the face? Probably, it was just like her to..

"There I go, making assumptions again" Buffy grumbled to herself. She would have to work on that. What reason did she have for thinking that of Faith anyway? Sure, she wasn't exactly famous for _not_ beating people up, but in hindsight, Buffy realised that a lot of those people had kind of deserved it. She also realised that, despite the countless number of arguments they had managed to get into, quite a few of which had gotten pretty heated, Faith had never laid a hand on Buffy. She had never even come close. So, she took a deep breath, walked up behind the other girl, and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Faith, I.."

"Piss off, B" said Faith, not bothering to turn around.

"But I.."

"I said piss off" Faith frowned, grabbing her books and closing her locker, before turning to glare at Buffy. "And you know, 'Screw you' doesn't exactly mean 'Hey, come over and have a nice little chat next time you see me'."

"I know" said Buffy, "But I wanted to apologise, for yesterday.."

"Great!" said Faith in a mock cheerful voice before turning around, still frowning. "Apology not accepted."

"Why not?" asked Buffy, trying to keep control. Faith had a special way of pushing her buttons, but she could not lose her temper, not this time.

"Because apologies aren't worth a thing if you don't mean it."

"And why do you think I don't mean it?" Buffy frowned.

"Well, you're not apologisin' 'cause you _know _you were wrong, you're only apologisin' 'cause you think you _might _be wrong" said Faith.

"What does that have to do with it?" Buffy snapped.

"It has everythin' to do with it, B" said Faith. "It shows that you're just too damn stubborn to admit that you screwed up. So, until you're ready to say sorry properly, you can stay the hell away from me." As Faith marched off down the hall, Buffy cracked, all good intentions forgotten.

"Hey! You have no right to.."

"No, B" Faith hissed, spinning around once again. "You have no right! No right to make assumptions, about me, or that chick who ran away from her abusive asshole of a Dad, without knowin' either of us! No right to assume that I know nothin' about what she probably went through, when I know more than you ever will! And you have no right to judge me, even though you've been doing it since the day you met me! You want to apologise? Well it's a little too late for that!" Suddenly, eyes widening for a second, Faith roughly jerked Buffy by the arm, but just as the blonde was about to mentally withdraw her earlier realisation that the brunette had never laid a hand on her, she realised that Faith had only been pulling her out of the path of destruction being caused by a pair of jocks wrestling their way down the hall. Unfortunately, before Buffy could thank the other girl, she was gone.

"Well, that went well" said Xander, who had been watching from nearby.

"Shut up, Xand" Buffy grumbled.


	9. The Analyst

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

"Buffy!" Willow called as she rushed over to her friends, Xander gazing at Buffy in concern, while Buffy continued to stare down the hall where Faith had retreated, frowning. "Uh, Buffy?" Willow waved a hand in front of her friend's face.

""What? Oh, hi Will" Buffy gave her slightly mussed friend the once over, raising an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing" Willow frowned.

"Oh, it's fine. Just another minor Faith encounter" said Buffy. Willow glanced at Xander, neither of them believing that Buffy was completely fine, but the redhead had more important matters to deal with right now, like the fact that she looked like a total mess.

"Okay then. Uh, do you have a hairbrush or something, Buff? I fell asleep on the couch last night, and then I slept in.." she explained.

"Sure, I'll just go get it from my locker" said Buffy. "But Will, don't you have a sore neck or back or something from sleeping on the couch that long? It couldn't have been comfortable."

"Oh, my couch has good cushions" Willow lied. "Really comfy cushions." Willow's couch and it's cushions were no more comfortable than any other couch, but the shoulder of the girl she had shared it with was, and Willow didn't think she'd ever had a better night's sleep.

* * *

Later that day, Willow sat in the library during her study period, trying, and, quite unusually for her, failing, to concentrate on her homework. The reason for this was that she just couldn't keep her mind from wandering to Tara. While she hadn't paid much attention to it in her haste to leave that morning, Willow realised that the other girl had looked hurt when she rushed off so quickly, and maybe made to think that she had done something wrong. Willow didn't want to make Tara feel that way, she hadn't done anything wrong, and she didn't deserve it after all she'd been through. Willow, now deciding how she could try and make it up to her friend, put her pen down, finally abandoning her homework, and headed for the Witchcraft & Occult section of the library. In the past she had often wondered why a high school library would even have a section for that type of thing, but she was grateful for it now. She did have to admit though, that her decision to borrow some Magic books for Tara wasn't for the benefit of Tara alone. Now that Willow had mastered how to float a pencil, Tara had said she could teach her a few other basic spells, if she wanted. Willow welcomed this chance, as it gave her an excuse to be close to the other girl, but, she hoped, having to focus on the magic would keep her from dwelling on her growing more-than-friendly feelings. When Willow reached the section she was looking for, she stopped startled to find somebody already there. It was Faith, arranging the books on the shelves. Yep, that girl was just full of surprises.

"Uh, hi" greeted Willow, rather awkwardly.

"Hey, Red" Faith replied, obviously not as surprised to see Willow as Willow was to see her.

"So, whatcha doing there?"

"Arrangin' the books."

"I can see that" said Willow, confused. "But _why _are you arranging the books? You're not pulling some prank are you, because I will tell Giles.."

"I'm not playin' a prank, Red" Faith frowned. "I help out the G-man around here in my free periods."

"Oh!" said Willow, the information clicking into place, "So that was why you had Ta.." she paused, quickly catching herself, "My book."

"Yeah" Faith smirked, catching Willow's slip but deciding not to comment on it just yet.

"Um, no offence" said Willow, Faith's admittance of assisting Giles only confusing her further, "But you don't seem like the type to help out in a library."

"What makes you think you know what type I.." Faith began, scowling, but then stopped, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She had still been a little worked up from her fight with Buffy that morning, but she knew that Willow's comment had only come out of curiosity, so it would be unfair to take her frustrations out on her. "Giles is my.." she paused again, catching herself before admitting something she hadn't yet told anyone. "I just like the guy, okay? He's one of the only people in this joint who doesn't think I'm a lost cause. Besides, somebody's gotta help him. The only other kid who ever comes in here is you."

"Yeah.. How come I've never seen you in here before then?"

"I'm always in the shelves, aren't I?" Faith replied. "And usually, you're always buried in your homework." The brunette turned back to the shelves, continuing to arrange the books in their correct alphabetical order. "Go ahead and browse, Red. Don't mind me."

"Okay" Willow turned to look through the shelves herself, but it was a little awkward having Faith there. She picked out a beginner's book of spells for herself, and was wondering which ones to borrow for Tara, when the other girl spoke again.

"You know where she is, don't you?"

"Who?" said Willow, trying to feign ignorance to hide the panic that had suddenly gripped her.

"Don't play dumb with me, Red" Faith frowned. "I saw how angry you were with B outside the store a few days ago. You almost cracked it before I showed up." When Willow remained silent, not meeting her eyes, Faith sighed. "You don't have to tell me where she is. I just want to know if you know." Willow bit her lip, not knowing what to do, until she remembered her earlier conversation with Tara.

"Have faith in Faith.." she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Faith frowned.

"Nevermind, just something someone.. Yeah, I know where she is" Willow admitted.

"Is she safe?" asked Faith seriously.

"Yeah, I wouldn't let.. No-one's going to find her."

"You like her" said Faith, her trademark dimpled, cheshire cat grin spreading across her face.

"No I don't" said Willow a little too quickly.

"Yes, you do" Faith smirked. "You care so much about protectin' her, you get mad when someone insults her, and you blush a little whenever she's mentioned. You're blushin' now, actually."

"It's just a little hot in here, that's all" Willow rubbed at her cheeks as if to take the offending flush of redness away, but only succeeding in making it worse. "And she's my friend, of course I care about protecting her. What excuse do you have for caring so much?"

"That's a long story. Pretty complicated too" said Faith. "Who knows, maybe one I'll tell ya. But for now, I have to get back to work. See ya, Red." Willow frowned as the brunette disappeared around the next shelf, wondering how the hell a girl who she'd barely even talked to, and until recently, didn't even like (She still wasn't sure whether she liked her, although the caring about Tara's safety was a big tick in her favour), could have discovered more about her than even her best friends knew.


	10. A Year Ago Today

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

When Willow arrived home from school that day, the first thing she did was offer Tara the books, and an apology. Tara accepted both, but had stuttered out that the apology wasn't necessary, and that she completely understood why Willow had had to leave. After that, the two easily slipped back into the comfortable rapport they had shared since the beginning of Tara's stay, and both, mostly, managed to ignore their growing feelings for each other.

At least until that weekend, when Willow came downstairs to find Tara vacantly gazing at the television, and sensed something was amiss with her friend. She didn't know how she knew this, she just did. She could feel it in her.. Willow shook her head. Naming where should could feel it wouldn't exactly help her to convince herself that she hadn't fallen head-over-heels in love with Tara. Which she had.

_"No, I haven't!" _Willow scolded herself internally. _"I'm not in love with Tara, I'm not! And even if I was.." _Willow shook her head again, frowning to herself. _"You know what, brain? Shut up. The only thing that really matters is what Tara needs, and right now, I think she needs somebody to talk to." _Willow moved over to sit next to her friend, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She quickly pulled it away when Tara jumped.

"Sorry" said Willow sheepishly.

"Oh n-no it's f-fine, really" Tara stuttered. "I j-just didn't h-hear you come in."

"Are you okay?" Willow asked, concerned. She returned her hand to Tara's shoulder, fighting away the feelings that just this small touch stirred within her. "You seem a little off this morning."

"It's n-not that big a d-deal, really" said Tara, although the way she'd said it made Willow think that it was a very big deal. "It's just t-today.. well today it's b-been a year since my Mom first w-went into the h-hospital. And that was the l-last time I really got to t-talk to her, because my F-Father didn't t-take me to see her v-very often, and when he did, he n-never left us alone. It was like he th-thought she was g-going to c-corrupt me or something."

"So.. You never really got to say goodbye?" asked Willow in shock.

"No" Tara replied. "M-My Mom did though. She s-said her g-goodbyes when she l-left. She knew she w-wasn't c-coming back. But I didn't. Well, I g-guess I did, really. But I k-kinda still hoped she'd get b-better, you know?"

"Yeah" said Willow, nodding. "Of course you'd want that."

"My F-Father hid s-so much from us" said Tara sadly. "H-He w-wouldn't even let m-my Mom get to th-the Doctor until it w-was too l-late to d-do anything." Tara, overwhelmed with emotion by this point in her story, began to sob. Willow gritted her teeth, beginning to dream up a multitude of ways in which to cause serious bodily harm to Tara's Father.

_"Maybe I should set Faith on him" _Willow thought to herself. _"She has always been good at bringing the pain when she wants to, from what I've seen. And it does seem like she wants to help.." _Willow paused in her thoughts as she glanced at the sobbing Tara beside her, and mentally slapped herself. She looked at the fading bruise on her friend's face. It was almost completely gone and she wanted it to stay that way. So, what she should have been focused on was not the ways she could hurt Tara's Father, but rather the ways shecould keep him from hurting Tara again. On that front, Willow had no better ideas than continuing to keep Tara hidden. But, there was one thing she could do for her friend, even if it was going to cause some minor problems for herself. Willow shifted closer to Tara, wrapping an arm around the other girl's shoulders and pulling her close. She let her cry against her for a little while longer, letting her get it all out, before speaking.

"I never knew your Mom, Tara" she began, "But from what you've told me about her, she was a really great person. Kind, and sweet.. just like you."

"L-Like me?" Tara sniffled.

"Uh-huh" Willow nodded. "And as far as I see, you've taken all the great stuff from your Mom, with out any of the badness that's obviously in your Dad. She'd be really proud of you. I'm proud of you. In fact, I've never been prouder to call a person my friend."

"You r-really mean that?" asked Tara, looking up at Willow with shining eyes.

"I really mean that" Willow replied. Tara smiled, her wonderful, adorable, lopsided smile, and Willow's breath hitched. This was bad. This was very bad. It was very bad because she wanted to kiss Tara. She really, _really,_ wanted to kiss Tara. She leaned in, ever so slightly.. Then just as quickly pulled away and stood up, heading for the kitchen. "I'm, uh, gonna get some breakfast. Do you want anything?"

"No" Tara sighed, a little disappointed. "I'm fine."


	11. Learn To Trust

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

AN: I'm running out of fitting song titles, so I'll use portions of lyrics for some chapter titles.

* * *

After she had almost kissed Tara, Willow began to feel awkward around her friend, especially considering the fact that Tara seemed upset about something. She.. She couldn't have wanted it too.. Could she? Willow shook her head as she washed the dishes, trying to clear these thoughts from her mind. It would be wrong to pursue any sort of romantic relationship with Tara right now. As Willow kept reminding herself, she didn't want to take advantage.

_"It's not taking advantage if you really love her" _said the little voice in Willow's head. Oh, how she hated that voice. Especially when it was kinda telling the truth. But, her other, currently louder inner voice thought, even if it was the truth, if she loved Tara, she needed to do what was best for her, and that was to keep her safe and protected as she'd promised, nothing more. Tara's life was complicated enough at the moment without adding teenage romance to the equation. And weren't adults always saying teenagers didn't know what real love was? Willow thought that what she felt for Tara was love, but what if she was wrong. Willow nodded, her mind was made up.. For now at least. It was better to keep off that road than to risk their wonderful friendship.

Tara, as she shyly entered the kitchen, had been thinking mostly along the same lines, even though Willow's pulling away had felt like a painful blow to the heart. But she knew that, if nothing else, she and Willow had a magical connection, and for that reason, along with the multitude of other much more obvious predicaments she currently faced, she needed her friend's help. Tara had reached a rather awkward stage of her magical development. She could handle most basic spells on her own, but for the more complicated ones she was now ready to attempt, she needed the assistance of another witch, and, beginner though she was, Willow was the closest thing she had. Willow was also the only person who could leave the house to get supplies.

"Willow?" Tara never stuttered over the younger girl's name anymore.

"Hmm?" Willow looked up from the dishes.

"I need you to.. I mean, you d-don't n-need to do anything, but I was w-wondering if m-maybe you would.."

"Tara" Willow laughed, forgetting her recent awkwardness in the face of her friend's adorably nervous display, "Whatever it is, just ask."

"Well, th-there's a spell in my Mother's b-book that I want to try" Tara continued, "B-But I n-need another witch.."

"Oh.. Oh!" said Willow, catching on. "You mean me?"

"I d-don't have anybody else" Tara shrugged.

"I don't know" Willow frowned. "Am I good enough?"

"I d-don't even know if _I'm _g-good enough" said Tara. "I just th-think its worth t-trying, that's all."

"Okay, I guess" Willow agreed. "What do I have to do?"

"We n-need some stuff" said Tara. "There's a shop up the r-road from The Bronze, it's c-called The Magic Box. You sh-should be able to g-get everything there."

"Okay" Willow nodded, turning back to the sink. "Make a list, and I'll go when I've finished these dishes."

* * *

Willow had walked past The Magic Box many times, and had always wanted to look inside, but had never had the chance. This was because she would usually pass it with Buffy, who saw the place as 'weird', and on one occasion, her Mother, who 'didn't believe in that nonsense'. Willow had always liked to believe that magic existed, even before Tara, so she was almost excited to enter the store. Or at least she had been, until she approached a display of candles, and found herself faced with a mop of dark hair that had become entirely too familiar in recent times.

"This is getting weird."

"Hey, Red" Faith grinned as she turned around. "We have to stop meetin' like this."

"It's not funny" Willow frowned. "You being outside the electronics store right when we walked past is understandable, and the library, I almost get, but what possible reason could you have for being in a magic shop?"

"What reason do _you _have for being in a magic shop?" asked Faith, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm buying stuff for a _friend_" said Willow, emphasising 'friend' to leave Faith in no doubt as to whom she was referring. "And again, you're here because?.."

"Why do you need to know?" Faith frowned.

"Like it or not, we share a big secret Faith" Willow pointed out, crossing her arms. "And when two people are sharing a secret that involves protecting someone else, and one of them does something that the other one thinks is out of character, then I think they have the right to know why, just o make sure the protected person stays protected."

"Fine" Faith sighed, relenting, although she didn't seem entirely happy about it. "I don't see how Blondie could be in danger just from me bein' in a magic shop, but fine. My.." she hesitated.

"Your what?"

"My Foster Mom is into this stuff. She asked me to get her some things."

"Foster Mom?" asked Willow, confused.

"Yeah, Foster Mom" Faith snapped. "You got a problem with that?"

"No" said Willow quickly. "So.. You must know a little about magic then, right?"

"I've picked up a few things" said Faith, calming down. "Why?"

"Well, I don't know much at all yet.." Willow pulled Tara's list from her pocket, and Faith held out a hand.

"Give it here, Red."

* * *

It didn't take long for Faith to gather the items on Tara's list, and she and Willow soon mad the ir puchases and exited the store.

"See ya, Red" said Faith, heading off down the street. "Tell Blondie I said hi." Willow frowned as she watched the girl's retreating form, considering. If she was going to trust Faith, she might as well trust her with everything. It would be nice to have someone else on her side, and it would probably be good for Tara to have another friend.

"Hey!" she called after the younger girl. Faith turned, raising an eyebrow. "Do you want to come tell her yourself?"


	12. Things Are Changing

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

"Tara?" Willow called as she re-entered the house. Faith trailed a few steps behind her, feeling a little awkward. "Uh, we kinda have a guest.."

"Oh no, he's f-found me hasn't he?" cried Tara in a panic as she rushed into the room. "Willow, I'm s-so sorry you got m-mixed up in all of.. Oh."

"Hey Blondie" said Faith with a smile.

"H-Hey" Tara stuttered, blushing with embarassment at her outburst.

"I ran into Faith at The Magic Box" Willow explained. "She helped me find the stuff you wanted. I thought that since she's proved she's on our side so far you wouldn't mind.."

"I don't m-mind" said Tara, looking to Faith. "We t-trust you."

"Really?" said Faith, raising a surprised eyebrow. "I don't think anyone's ever trusted me before."

"Well, you haven't given us a reason not to trust you" said Willow. The three girls fell into a slightly awkward silence.

"Uh.. w-we've got some brownies left o-over from a few d-days ago" said Tara, heading for the kitchen. "I'll g-go get them." Willow was surprised by the momentary flash of anger that burned through her. She and Tara had baked those brownies, why should Faith get any? Willow's frown did not go unnoticed.

"Somethin' wrong, Red?" Faith asked.

"No" Willow grumbled, leading her in the direction Tara had headed. The blonde had already placed a brownie on a plate for each of them.

"Here you go" she said, pushing one towards Faith with a small smile. When Faith smiled back, Willow struggled to fight back the scowl that was threatening to cross her face.

"Are y-you okay Willow?" asked Tara, concerned.

"Fine, just got something in my teeth.." The girls fell silent again as they ate, the silence this time being broken by the Phone ringing. Willow, of course, being the only person who was supposed to be in the house, answered. "Hello?"

_"Hey, Will" _came a familiar voice through the line. _"It's Buffy."_

"Oh, hey" said Willow a little nervously, raising a finger to her lips so her companions knew to keep quiet. "What's up?"

_"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and hang. We haven't had a good Girl's Night in a while."_

"I'd love to Buff, but, uh.." she scrambled for an excuse, "I've got a really nasty cold." Faith gave a loud guffaw, that excuse seeming so obviously fake it was ridiculous.

_"Was that Faith?" _Willow could almost see her friend frown.

"No" she replied, glaring at her offending house guest.

_"It sounded like Faith." _Damn it! How did Buffy know what Faith's laugh sounded like anyway?

"It was the T.V" said Willow. "Some show set in Brooklyn.."

"Boston!" Faith hissed. "I was born in Boston!"

_"Faith's from Boston."_

"That's what I meant" said Willow, frowning. How did her friend know so much about a girl she apparently hated? She shrugged, deciding that she had other things to worry about right then. She lightly pinched her nose to give her voice a nasally tone, and interspersing her words with a hacking cough to support the excuse that she had a cold. "I knew it was somewhere starting with B."

_"Well, okay. Hope you get better soon, Will."_

"Me too. Bye." As Willow hung up the phone, both Faith and Tara burst into a fit of laughter. Seeing them laugh together made something inside Willow flare with rage.. Except it wasn't rage. Willow realised with a start that she wasn't angry about sharing their brownies. She was angry about sharing _Tara_. She was _jealous_. And she didn't like it one bit.


	13. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

Willow, in the Kitchen fetching snacks, frowned as she watched Tara and Faith sitting in the lounge room, apparently in deep conversation. However, her frown was just as much about herself as it was them. Willow was annoyed with herself. She had no right to be jealous. She and Tara were just friends. And now Tara and Faith were friends too. But if Tara wanted to be more than friends with Faith, she had every right to be. Even though the thought made Willow want to leap over the back of the sofa and strangle the brunette.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, all thoughts of harming Faith were swept from her mind when the front door swung open, and a familiar blonde teenager strode in, clutching a container of chicken soup. Willow had never been less happy to see Buffy Summers.

"Hey Will, the door was open. My Mom made you some.." Buffy froze when she spotted Faith, and let the soup fall from her hands, spilling over the floor. Tara leaned back into the couch cushions, trying to make herself seem as small and insignificant as possible, but Buffy wasn't interested in her right now. "I knew it!"

"B.." Faith began softly.

"Don't you talk to me!" Buffy growled.

"Buffy" cried Willow, running into the room to attempt to diffuse the situation, "I can explain.."

"Explain what, Will?" Buffy snapped. "How you blew me off to hang out with Faith and.." she finally noticed Tara, and her eyes widened. "You're the girl from the news! The one who ran away!" The blonde shook her head, heading for the door. "I'm getting out of here.."

"Buffy!" cried Willow, panicking. "Please, you can't tell anyone you saw Tara here! Buffy!" She moved to follow her friend outside, but Faith stopped her.

"I'll go, Red."

"But.."

"I'm the problem, I'll fix it" said Faith, heading off in pursuit of the blonde. "Trust me."

"I really hope I can" Willow sighed to herself. "Otherwise, we're screwed.."

* * *

"Buffy!" called Faith, chasing after her.

"What now?" Buffy snapped. "Are you dating Xander? Stealing him from me too?"

"Jeez, B, how self centred can you get?" said Faith, annoyed. "This isn't about you! It's not even _close _to being about you!"

"Leave me alone, Faith."

"Love to, but I can't until I know you won't go blabbin' about Tara."

"Why would I?" said Buffy, voice softening slightly. "I saw the bruise. Now you know, so leave me alone."

Faith fully intended to do so, until she noticed Buffy turn a corner a little way ahead. Somewhat surprisingly, Faith had actually been to Buffy's house before. Twice. Buffy wasn't going to her house. She was heading into the bad part of town, probably going to The Bronze. Faith glanced at the Sun sinking below the horizon. While fine for groups, The Bronze at night wasn't the greatest place for a sixteen year old girl to be hanging out on her own. If Faith hadn't been at Willow's house this evening, Willow may very well have been able to explain the situation to Buffy with little trouble. Faith was the real problem. And even though no one could possibly blame her, if anything happened to Buffy, Faith wouldn't be able to help feeling partially responsible.

"God damn it" she muttered to herself, again following the blonde's footsteps.

* * *

As Faith had expected, Buffy headed to The Bronze, which was already filling with it's regular Saturday night clientele'. She watched her from a distance for a while, before moving over to the table she'd claimed for herself, taking the empty seat across from her.

"What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?" Buffy frowned.

"I'll leave you alone when ya leave here, B" Faith replied. "This isn't a good place to be alone."

"I've been here before, you know."

"Not by yourself, I bet" said Faith. "And if you have you're an idiot.." Faith realised she'd said the wrong thing almost as soon as she said it, but Buffy had already stormed off in a huff. "Okay, I admit that was uncalled for, I.." Buffy had already disappeared into the crowd on the dancefloor. "..Crap."

* * *

Yep, Buffy Summers was having a bad day. First she'd discovered that her best friend had a secret that she'd shared with _Faith Lehane_, of all people, before her, and now, for some strange reason, Faith wouldn't leave her the hell alone! Why did Faith care if anything happened to her? Faith hated Buffy, and the feeling was mutual. Besides, Buffy thought, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Or at least she'd thought so until someone caught her arm, and she found herself spinning around to face Jack O'Toole. The best way Buffy knew to describe him was a male version of Faith, only worse, and had been worse even before Faith had mellowed out in recent months. Jack was currently repeating his senior year for the second time, though no one knew why he bothered, and their were persistent rumours around school that he was part of a gang.

"Hey" he flashed an unsettling grin, "Want a dance?"

"I was actually just leaving" Buffy chuckled nervously, trying to pull free of his grip.

"Then why did you just walk onto the dancefloor?" he smirked.

"I think I dropped an earring" Buffy lied, "But it's okay, I can just come back tomorrow and ask if someone handed it in.." She jerked her arm again, but he pulled her closer.

"Just one dance.."

"No thanks.."

"Come on.." Jack chuckled menacingly.

"She said no" came Faith's voice as Buffy, with a flood of relief, felt herself being pulled free of Jack's grip. "So back off."

"I know you" Jack grinned. "Faith, right? Your Mom was.."

"I know what my Mom was" Faith scowled. "I'm not my Mom." She turned and headed for the exit, leading Buffy along with her. "Don't" she whispered, when Buffy turned her head. "Don't look back, he'll think you want him or something. Just keep moving."

* * *

They headed outside, down the street, and around the corner, before Buffy realised she was still holding Faith's hand and quickly let go, embarassed.

"Uh.. Thanks for that" she said rather awkwrdly. Faith just shrugged. "I should probably go.." She moved to head off down another road, but Faith stopped her.

"You can't go straight home from here. He might follow you."

"I don't see him anywhere" Buffy frowned.

"Ya probably wouldn't, Jack's a sneaky bastard" Faith looked around, then sighed. "Come on, we'll go to my place."

"But he knows your Mom."

"I don't live with my Mom" said Faith icily. "The authorities kinda frown on teenagers livin' with dead people."

"Oh" said Buffy, a little guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't know.."

"Forget it, I saw it comin' a mile away." Faith began to head off, and after a few moments of hesitation, Buffy followed. For a while, they walked in silence.

"Hey" said Buffy eventually, frowning as something occurred to her. "How did you know I wasn't going home?"

"'Cause I've been to your house before, B."

"What? When?"

"You're thirteenth Birthday party" said Faith. "Joyce invited everyone, remember?"

"Oh, right.."

"And last year, I walked your little sis' home from school one day. She looked pretty upset, she said.."

"Our Dad just left" Buffy finished. It was now Faith's turn to feel awkward. Well, more awkward than they already were anyway. The pair once again fell quiet. "Thank you" Buffy finally broke the silence.

"I couldn't just leave the kid cryin' like that" Faith shrugged.

"Well, thanks for that too, but the Dawn thing wasn't I meant" Buffy sighed. "Thank you for helping me. You didn't have to. I mean, after the way I've always treated you, I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't."

"Hey, it's not like I've treated you that much better" Faith pointed out. "But wev'e known each other for too long for me to just sit back and let somethin' bad happen to you. You would have done the same for me."

"Yeah" Buffy was a little surprised to find herself saying, and even more surprised to realise that she meant it. "Yeah, I would have." They soon reached the front door of a house, where Faith paused.

"B, you can't tell anyone who my foster parents are, okay?"

"Okay" said Buffy, a little confused. "Why?"

"Well, you know that I've kinda changed the last couple of months, and been actin' a little different.."

"Not with me" Buffy chuckled, "But yeah."

"Well, they're a big part of the reason why" said Faith. "And I want people to know what they've done for me, I do, but then they'd wanna know about my Mom, and I'm not ready to talk about her yet.."

"I get it" said Buffy. "It's still hard for me to talk about my Dad sometimes, and he's alive. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks" Faith smiled. She pressed the doorbell, and soon, a woman came to answer it. Buffy didn't know who she'd expected to see, but it sure wasn't Jenny Calendar.

"Faith!" she frowned, "You were supposed to be home.." She paused when she spotted Buffy.

"Sorry, Jen" said Faith sheepishly. "Buffy got herself into a bit of trouble, I had to help. Is it okay if she hangs around for a while?"

"Oh, sure" Jenny smiled, opening the door wider. "Come on in." For a moment, Buffy hesitated. Just over an hour ago, she'd been yelling at Faith to leave her alone, and now she was at her house? This was insane! But then, she thought of where she might be without Faith, and shivered. So, she stepped over the threshold.

* * *

AN: There you have it, Faith's foster parents revealed! Well, one of them anyway, but if you've been paying any attention to who's married to who in this story the other one should be obvious. This is the longest chap of 'My Sanctuary' that I've written so far, and from here the story should start to really move along, so stay tuned!


	14. Angels In The Room

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

Meanwhile, having assumed a constant state of panic since Buffy and Faith had left, Willow was almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"We're screwed, very, very, screwed" she said nervously, pacing back and forth.

"Willow, p-please, try to calm down" said Tara, trying to hide her own panic. "We d-don't know if anything's even h-happened yet.." At that moment, the phone rang. After a few rings, Willow picked it up, hand shaking.

"Hello?" She winced, very much expecting a police officer to yell 'Come out with your hands up!'. Instead, she recieved a very sheepish reply from her best friend.

_"Hey, Will."_

"Buffy?" said Willow, surprised, but relieved.

_"Yeah, it's me. So, I'm at Faith's house.."_

"What? Uh, she's not holding you there against your will or anything, is she?"

_"No" _said Buffy with a chuckle. _"I got into a bit of trouble, Faith helped me. We talked, worked out some stuff, it was good."_

"Well, that's good, I guess.." said Willow, very confused by this turn of events.

_"Yeah. So, I'm just calling to apologise about before" _Buffy continued. _"You're my best friend, but I don't own you. I have no right to control who else you hang out with. And about, um.."_

"Tara" said Willow, faintly hearing Faith mumble the same thing on the other end of the line.

_"I won't tell anyone where she is. And I'm sorry about everything I said about her that day outside the store. I was wrong about all of it.. I think I've been wrong about a lot of things. But if you need anything, either of you, I'll be there."_

"Thanks, Buffy" Willow smiled.

_"One more thing" _said Buffy. _"It's your call, but I think you should tell Xander about this. You know how he gets when we keep stuff from him."_

"Yeah, I probably will." Willow heard another voice from the other end of the line. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

_"Got to go, Will. Faith's foster parents asked me to stay for dinner, and it's ready. But if you want, I can come over tomorrow and meet Tara properly?"_

"That'd be great."

_"Okay, see ya."_

"Bye." Willow clicked off the phone, grinning. "Woo! We are not screwed! Everything's gonna be okay!" She broke into a little happy dance, then slipped in the forgotten puddle of chicken soup, falling down flat on her back.

"Willow!" cried Tara as she rushed over, trying not to laugh, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little souped" said Willow as she sat up, rubbing her back. "Probably be sore tomorrow though."

"Do you w-want me to take a look?" asked Tara, concerned, helping her friend to her feet.

"No, I should be fine" Willow replied. "I'll go get cleaned up, and then we can try our spell, okay?"

"Okay" Tara smiled.

* * *

Not too much later, after Willow had showered and changed into her pyjamas, she and Tara began setting things up for the spell.

"So" said Willow nervously as they worked, "You and Faith seemed to get along well.."

"Yeah" Tara nodded.

"Getting nice and close.." Willow pushed a little.

"Yeah" Tara repeated, then frowned, realising Willow's implication, and turned to her with eyes slightly narrowed. "H-hang on. What do you mean 'close'?"

"Well, uh, Faith's a good looking girl, you'd have to be dead not to notice her, and, I mean, she was sitting right up next to you, and you didn't seem to mind.." She trailed off, face burning with embarassment.

"Willow!" Tara chuckled. She gave her friend a playful slap on the arm, which made her face burn redder. "Faith was j-just showing me a scar. She d-didn't want you to see."

"Oh" said Willow, feeling incredibly stupid. "Well, I didn't trust Faith right off so I suppose it's fair that she.."

"Oh Willow, no" said Tara, shaking her head. "It's n-not like that."

"It's not?"

"No. Faith just d-doesn't like the way people look at her d-differently when they know, well, you know. She doesn't want them to f-feel sorry for her."

"And you wouldn't?" said Willow, skeptical.

"Not in the s-same way you would have" Tara replied. "It's d-different when you're talking to someone else who.." she paused, struggling a little with the words. "Who's b-been abused. It builds more of a m-mutual understanding than pity."

"That makes sense, I guess." They fell silent for a while, until Tara burst out laughing. "What?" Willow frowned.

"You r-really thought I liked Faith?"

"I know, I'm an idiot."

"Not really" Tara shrugged, making Willow suddenly feel a little sick. "Faith _is _a g-good looking girl. She's a better p-person than anyone gives her credit for, and I s-see her being a good friend one day, but.. that's all. N-No romantic feelings whatsoever. The only p-person I have those kind of f-feelings for is.. There's only one p-person I've had those k-kind of feelings for." She paused as if waiting for Willow's reaction, but when the redhead didn't respond, she sighed, then moved to sit cross-legged on one side of the circle they had made from candles and powdered herbs. A rose lay at it's centre. Willow, following Tara's lead, sat down on the other side.

"So, what exactly are we doing?" she asked, watching Tara light the candles.

"We're going to f-float the rose, then pluck it's p-petals one by one" Tara explained. "It's a v-very difficult spell, our m-minds have to be completely in sync."

"Okay" said Willow, a little puzzled. "How hard can that be?"

"H-Harder than you think, obviously" replied Tara with a small frown. "The spell is very s-sensitive, if we're even a l-little out, it w-won't work. It's actually b-better to do it with somebody who knows you b-better than anyone else, like a f-family member or a.." A blush spread over her cheeks, letting Willow know exactly what the preferred candidate would have been. "But a c-close friend should do just as well, if we stay f-focused. Are you ready?"

"Sure. What do I do?"

"T-Take my hands" Tara instructed. Willow hesitated for a moment, then shuffled forward and did as she was told. The magic in the air only enhanced the effect that Willow and Tara had on each other, and the candles flared for a second as if they knew the girls were connected in a way they didn't yet realise, but both trid to ignore the reaction. "Now f-focus on the rose.. j-just the rose." Tara seemed to be telling herself just as much as Willow.

The fact that she was holding Tara's hands, and the magic flowing between them, made concentrating on anything else a little difficult for Willow, but eventually she managed it, and when Tara, having the same problem, had done the same, the rose floated slowly up from the carpet, and the girls, using all the will power they posessed to stay focused on their task, working together to pluck each petal. They let the bare stem fall, but their hands remained joined. Minds linked as they had had to be to succeed, their feelings for each other finally became impossible to ignore. Willow opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find any words, so she simply leaned forward as Tara did, both of them throwing caution to the wind at the same moment.

If Willow had thought a simple touch from Tara was electric, it was nothing compared to her kiss. This was real magic. When they had to break apart for air, they smiled softly, foreheads still pressed together.

"Wanna try that one again?" Willow grinned.

"Y-Yeah" Tara stuttered, hands quickly tangling in Willow's fiery hair.


	15. Beautiful

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

The girls continued kissing for a while, and even when they stopped, remained sitting with their foreheads gently brushing thumbs over each other's cheeks, or running hands through each other's hair, not ready to part from the new closeness they had discovered. Eventually, though, they had to move. They stood, slowly gathering up the remnants of their spell, occasionally sharing shy smiles that made them both blush.

It was late, so Willow and Tara headed upstairs to bed. Willow climbed into her own warm bed, and Tara moved to her sleeping bag and blanket on the floor. Willow frowned. Tara's sleeping arrangements looked so uncomfortable now, more so than they had been for the previous duration of her stay.

"Tara, wait" she found herself protesting. Tara turned to her, smiling that amazingly beautiful lopsided smile, and Willow felt her cheeks flush.

"Um.. Well, it's kinda cold tonight, and there's room in the bed if you want.."

"I.." Tara began to answer.

"But you don't have to, if you're happy to stay on the floor that's fine.."

"Willow.."

"I'm not trying to put the moves on you or anyth.." Willow's babble was cut off by Tara kissing her again._ "God" _the redhead thought to herself, _"Why the hell was I trying so hard to talk myself out of this? This is.. Words can't describe how amazing this is."_

"Willow, c-calm down" Tara chuckled as they broke apart, slipping under the covers beside her. "I t-trust you."

Willow smiled, letting Tara snuggle up against her, and the two drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Willow woke the next morning and tried to get up to go to the bathroom, but couldn't, finding Tara's arms locked around her waist. A smile spread over her face as she remembered the night before. But, there was a quite pressing matter for which she did have to get up.

"Tara" she whispered, gently trying to rouse the other girl. "Tara, wake up, I need you to move your arm a little.."

"I'm s-sorry" Tara yelped, jolting awake and quickly relinquishing her grip on Willow. She should have known this wouldn't last. "I sh-shouldn't have.."

"Oh no" said Willow quickly, not wanting Tara to think she had done anything wrong. "No, it's fine, it's more than fine, it's great." She gave Tara a Good Morning kiss to reassure her. _"Yep, I could definitely get used to this." _"I just really have to pee."

"Oh" Tara blushed.

* * *

With that out of the way, the pair headed downstairs, with Tara offering to make them pancakes from an old recipe of her Mother's. While Tara cooked, Willow opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Will" _came Buffy's voice. Willow could also clearly hear Faith's voice shouting a greeting of 'Hey, Red!'

"Is Faith with you?" she frowned, confused.

_"Yeah. It got late, so I ended up staying at her House."_

"You what?" Yeah, Willow knew that her best friend and almost-friend had apparently worked through some stuff the night before, but this was still wierd.

_"I know, I'm kinda wigged about it too" _said Buffy. _"Anyway, she's gonna come over with me because she's already involved in all of this and she can help explain some of it on the way. Is that cool?"_

"Yeah" Willow paused for a moment, thinking. Due to the heightened level of importance Tara had suddenly taken in her life, she decided that she wanted both of her best friends to meet her. "And hey, stop off at Xander's on your way and see if he wants to come. I thought about what you said, and if you're in on this, he may as well be too."

_"Okay. See you later, Will."_

* * *

Willow and Tara ate Tara's pancakes, which Willow had to agree were amazing pancakes, then sat together on the couch.

"Y-You know, will, if you w-want to forget about last n-night, if you r-regret it or anything.."

"Why would I regret it?" Willow frowned.

"I kn-know.." Tara bowed her head, letting her hair form a curtain in front of her face. "I know I'm n-not the t-type of girl that m-most people.."

"Tara" Willow squeezed the other girl's hand, once again feeling anger towards her Father, who had obviously abused her emotionally as well as physically, and reached out to brush the curtain of hair away. "You're beautiful."

"N-No I'm.."

"You are beautiful" Willow repeated firmly, pulling her in for a kiss.


	16. Never Alone

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

AN: I know, I haven't updated this in ages, I had writer's block on it. But don't worry, all good now :)

* * *

"Uh, would you mind going over that again?" said Xander, still oh-so-very confused as to what exactly was going on here.

Buffy turning up on his doorstep this morning, with Faith, not fighting, and saying they needed him to come with them had been weird enough. It had taken a light punch from Faith to convince him he wasn't dreaming. Now they were dumping _this _on him?

"Tara, the runaway girl from the News, is hiding out at Willow's House, because her Dad.." Buffy began.

"Is an abusive asshole" Faith finished.

"They've trusted the three of us enough to let us in on it, so we can't tell anyone.." Buffy continued.

"Got it?" Faith raised a threatening fist.

"I've got it, I won't tell!" Xander raised his hands defensively. "Now, about the part where you two are suddenly friends.."

The girls shared a slightly awkward look.

"I wouldn't quite call us 'friends' yet.." said Buffy.

"We're allies" Faith replied.

"Yeah, that's the word."

"Okay" said Xander, "And the reason we're all going to Willow's House.."

"Is so you two can meet Tara properly" said Faith. "Trust me, once you know her, you can't not wanna help her."

* * *

"Y-You really think I'm b-beautiful?" Tara stuttered, blushing, when Willow finally broke their kiss.

"I do. You are" said Willow. "Anybody who tries to tell you different is a big fat liar. Okay?"

"Okay." Tara still didn't quite believe her, but it was nice to hear anyway.

They remained snuggled on the couch for a while longer, simply enjoying each other's presence.

"Willow?" said Tara eventually.

"Mmm?"

"I th-think you're beautiful, too."

Willow blushed, but before she could reply, there came a knock at the door.

"I, uh, better go get that." Willow stood to go answer it, but then doubled back to give Tara one last quick kiss. "Might not get to do that for a while.. Not that I'm ashamed of you or anything!" she added quickly. "It's just we, whatever we are, it's new, and, um, me hiding a runaway in my house is probably more than enough for my friends to grasp in one day.."

"I g-get it, Will" Tara chuckled. She was so cute when she babbled. "Go answer the door."

Willow headed over and pressed her ear to the door, hearing Xander, Buffy, and Faith outside. She shook her head. It was weird to to think of Buffy and Faith spending time together and not wanting to murder each other.

"Red?" Faith called. "You in there?"

"What's the password?" Willow smirked.

"Let us in, we've got donuts!" said Xander, holding up a box.

"And Bollywood Movies!" said Buffy.

"Okay, come on in" Willow laughed, opening the door.

"We should come up with a password though, or a secret knock or somethin', so you know it's safe to open the door" Faith mused as she entered, before spotting Tara over on the couch. "Hey, T."

"H-hi" Tara stuttered shyly, not because of Faith, but the two people who had come in behind her. Buffy and Xander always seemed nice enough, but Tara had never really met them properly before. What if they didn't like her? What if they worried that she was putting Willow in danger by being here? A very real concern, as Tara often worried about that herself.

Buffy spoke first, soothing the older girl's fears.

"Hi, Tara" She offered a sheepish smile. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Buffy. Sorry about last night.."

"R-Really, it's o..."

"No it's not. I said some things.. I'm sorry, and I'm going to make things up to you and Will however I can."

"Um, okay." Tara hadn't been expecting that. "Th-Thank you.."

"Nice to meet you, Tara" said Xander with a little bow. The moment he'd seen the shy girl on the couch, he was on board. That bruise was nasty, and had been worse, according to what Willow had told Buffy. So what if hiding Tara was wrong? It was more wrong _not_ to hide her, if this is what she faced at home."I'm Xander Harris, your friendly neighbourhood goofball. Need anything, call me, anytime. Seriously, anytime, my parents don't care where I go."

Tara had a little giggle at that. There was something about Xander that just made you want to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, he's a funny dude" said Faith. "So, now everyone knows everyone, about a password.."

"That is actually a good idea" Willow admitted. "It should be something easy for all of us to remember, but not too easy for anyone else to guess.." She sat on the couch beside Tara. "Any ideas?"

"Hide-n-Seek?" Buffy suggested, "Because we're hiding Tara, and we're the only ones who can seek.." The others gave her strange looks. "Nevermind."

"Somethin' specific to T would be good" Faith began, "Like.."

"Her favourite colour?" said Willow.

"Nah, colours are too easy.. Cartoon, maybe?"

"Sc-Scooby Doo" said Tara quietly. "I always l-loved it when I was l-little."

"Scooby Doo it is then" Willow smiled.

"Alright, the Scooby Gang is now in action!" cried Xander.

"'Scooby Gang'?" asked Faith, nose wrinkling. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Buffy frowned.

"No, but.."

"Then we're The Scooby Gang."

"I knew there was a reason I never wanted to hang out with you guys.." Faith muttered.

"Hey!" Buffy gave her a light shove, "We heard that!"

* * *

Buffy and Faith continued to argue after Xander had popped in a movie, although, unlike in the past, their argument came in the form of a playful, almost affectionate banter.

Tara watched them with a small smirk. The old saying 'Opposites attract' seemed to hold true in this case. As she thought, Willow sneakily slipped a hand into hers.

"Hey" she grinned. "Enjoying the movie?"

"Mmhm.." Tara turned her attention back to the television. "B-But it might be b-better if I understood what it was actually about."

"Oh. Um.." Willow looked at the colorful dancers onscreen. "A wedding, maybe?"

"I thought it was about a stolen goat.." Xander frowned, making the group laugh.

Tara didn't think she'd ever laughed this much in her life.

* * *

"Bye, guys!" Willow waved after the others as they left a while later.

"You're l-lucky, Willow" said Tara when she came back inside. "You h-have good friends."

"They're your friends now too" said Willow, pulling Tara close and kissing her, again wondering why she'd talked herself out of this for so long. Nothing about the intense bond she and Tara shared could possibly be wrong. "We're gonna protect you, Tara. You're not alone. You're never alone, not anymore."

* * *

AN: Aww. Don't worry, the next chap of this will be a lot quicker, promise :)


	17. Monday-itis

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

* * *

"Now, remember to keep the Doors locked, and shut all the curtains.." Willow instructed as she prepared to leave for School.

"I will" Tara replied.

"And don't open the door for anyone who doesn't know the password.."

"I w-won't, I'm not stupid" Tara chuckled. "We have b-been over this before, Willow."

"I know, but it's more important now" said Willow, pulling Tara close. "'Cause it would hurt so much worse if anything happened to you. Just promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"I promise" Tara smiled, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Y-You should go. You'll b-be late."

"One more Goodbye smoochie?" Now that Willow had started kissing Tara, it was difficult to stop. Almost impossible. Could you get addicted to kisses?

"Okay" Tara giggled a little, making Willow's heart flutter as she lowered her lips to hers, and her skin tingle across the spot the blonde touched while brushing a few stray red hairs out of her face.

It wasn't just kisses, Willow decided. It was _Tara's _kisses. It was Tara, just everything about her. Willow Rosenberg was addicted to Tara Maclay, and loving every second of it.

* * *

Everybody decided that it would be best to keep 'The Scooby Gang' behind closed doors, to keep anybody from getting suspicious. In particular, people would think it was weird if Buffy and Faith suddenly started hanging out together. Hell, they themselves thought their blossoming friendship was weird. Then again, Faith had rescued Buffy from a potentially horrible fate. And Buffy's Mom had found out about it.

So, at School on Monday Morning, Buffy found herself heading for her former enemy's Locker, emitting a small chuckle when she found her.

Faith obviously didn't do Mondays. Her Dark hair was slightly mussed, and she was yawning loudly every few seconds. It was kind of cute, actually, the way.. Where the Hell had that thought come from?!

Buffy shook her head, thinking her own mind must have been foggy with Monday-itis. She cleared her throat.

"Faith.."

Faith, still half-asleep, jumped in surprise, yelping as her skull slammed against the top of her locker, the textbooks she'd gathered tumbling to the floor.

"Shit, B!" Faith groaned, rubbing the back of her head as he discovered the identity of the speaker. "You can't go sneakin' up on people like that! Especially not on a Monday!"

"Sorry" Buffy winced, bending over to help retrieve the books, while trying not to drop her own.

"What are you doin' here, anyway?" Faith frowned. "I thought we were gonna stick with the whole 'I hate you, you hate me' thing at School."

"We were" said Buffy, trying to ignore the unpleasant twist in her stomach that the other girl's words had caused. She didn't hate Faith anymore. She didn't think Faith hated her, either. "But I told my Mom what you did at The Bronze the other Night.."

"You did?" Faith sounded surprised. "Why?"

"Well, I couldn't ignore it, could I?" said Buffy, a little embarrassed. "Who knows what Jack could have done to me if you hadn't been there?"

Faith gazed awkwardly at her feet.

"Somebody else would have.."

"You don't know that" Buffy cut her off. A few passing students gave them strange looks. She needed to wrap this up. "Anyway, I'm supposed to ask you over for Dinner this Weekend."

"What?" Faith's head shot up, staring at Buffy like she'd grown a second head.

"My Mom wants to have you over for Dinner this Weekend, to say Thank you. Think you can make it?"

"Uh.." Faith blinked like a deer caught in the headlights, then shook her head, trying to retain some semblance of cool. "I'll have to ask G and Jen first, but yeah, I could probably do that." Shit. She had basically just said that she had to ask her Parents. That was not cool. That was not cool at all.

Buffy laughed. Underneath the tough girl act she put on for the World, Faith was actually kind of a goof. It was sweet, and.. Monday Morning. People cannot think clearly on Monday Mornings. And oh dear, look at the time, she had to get to class.

"Okay. Just let me know. See ya."

Faith blinked after Buffy's retreating form.

_"Okay, what the Hell just happened?"_


End file.
